Workers of the world, uniting on May Day 2019
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Left wing demonstrators burn bengals on a balcony during the traditional May Day demonstration in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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Workers chant anti-government slogans outside the National Insurance Office during a demonstration marking International Workers’ Day also known as May Day, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Workers are also demanding a minimum wage increase, from $5 per eight-hour work day to $20 per day.
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Riot police officers walk along with marching right wing supporters following scuffles with left wing protesters in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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Laundry workers unfurl a banner with actual laundry attached during a May Day rally in front of a Trump-owned property at 40 Wall Street, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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Lorraine Liriano Chavez, with “A Call to Action on Puerto Rico,” speaks in front of a Puerto Rican flag during a May Day rally in front of 40 Wall Street, a President Donald Trump-owned property, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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A mask-wearing protester from Harlem Solidarity and Defense a group that opposes displacement due to gentrification of Harlem, joins other protesters during a May Day rally in front of 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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Cuban soldiers carry depictions of President Donald Trump during the annual May Day parade held at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Trump claimed via Twitter that if Cuban troops and militia do not cease their operations in support of Venezuela immediately, Cuba would suffer “a full and complete embargo” as well as “highest-level sanctions.”
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A left wing demonstrator takes part in the traditional May Day demonstration in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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A man walks past garbage that was put on fire in Paris, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Brief scuffles between police and protesters have broken out in Paris as thousands of people gather for May Day rallies under tight security measures.
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Demonstrators confront police officers as scuffles broke out during a May Day rally in Turin, Italy, Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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Riot police officers surround a detained protester following scuffles between far right supporters and left wing activists in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions hold up their banners during a May Day rally in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Thousands of trade union members and activists are marking May Day by marching through Asia’s capitals and demanding better working conditions and expanding labor rights. The signs read “Let’s win the wage struggle.”
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Riot police officers patrol during a May Day demonstration in Paris, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. French authorities announced tight security measures for May Day demonstrations, with the interior minister saying there was a risk that “radical activists” could join anti-government yellow vest protesters and union workers in the streets of Paris and across the country.
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Nicholas Taveras Jr., left, and Anthony Lebron, both of Local 1, the Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers Union, stand in front of an inflatable rat outside 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, during a May Day rally, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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People from Harlem Solidarity and Defense, protesting displacement from gentrification of their neighborhood, hold a banner during a May Day rally in front of 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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Protesters from various groups and causes gather in front of 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, during a May Day rally, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York. The woman at left represents FIRE, (Fight for Immigrants and Refugees Everywhere), and the man holding a Puerto Rican flag was protesting the Trump administration’s treatment of Puerto Rico. They were joined by others supporting global solidarity for workers and those who object to US involvement in Venezuela.
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An injured demonstrator is helped during a May Day rally in Paris, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Brief scuffles between police and protesters have broken out in Paris as thousands of people gather for May Day rallies under tight security measures.
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People carry communist flags during a May Day rally in Pamplona, northern Spain, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Spain’s workers are marching in its major cities to make their voices heard days before acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez starts negotiating with other parties to form a new government.
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Workers wear masks during a May Day rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Thousands of workers attended the rally urging the government to raise minimum wages, ban outsourcing practices, provide free health care and improve working condition for workers in the country.
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A man dressed as President Donald Trump holds a golf club as he stands beside a person dressed as a corporate vulture during a May Day rally in front of 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party attend a May Day Rally in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. In South Africa, the Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party used the day to rally voters a week before the country’s national election. Wearing their signature red shirts and berets, members gathered at a stadium in Johannesburg in cheering support of populist stances that have put pressure on the ruling African National Congress to address issues like economic inequality and land reform.
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A woman who only provided her name as “Michelle,” and another who only provided her name as “Red,” call for sex workers to unite during a May Day rally in front of 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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A police officer clears the area so firefighters can put out a fire that started at a clothing store when clashes broke out during a May Day march in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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Balloons and flags fly over the crowd as people prepare to walk on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, with the St. Basil’s Cathedral in the background. As in Soviet times, people paraded across Red Square on May Day, but instead of red flags with the Communist hammer and sickle, they waved the Russian tricolor.
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Protesters opposed to the US position on Iran hold a sign as they joined others from a variety of causes during a May Day rally in front of 40 Wall Street, a Trump-owned property, Wednesday, May 1, 2019, in New York.
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A man, his face covered in blood, is helped to leave during a May Day demonstration in Paris, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. French authorities announced tight security measures for May Day demonstrations, with the interior minister saying there was a risk that “radical activists” could join anti-government yellow vest protesters and union workers in the streets of Paris and across the country.
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PARIS (AP) — Recognizing the contributions and struggles of laborers on May 1 has roots in late 19th-century Chicago, but there was a timeless quality to some International Workers’ Day observances held around the world Wednesday.
The labor unions behind the first May Day considered an 8-hour work day a cause worth striking for during the second industrial revolution. In 2019, the focus in several Asian countries was fair working conditions.
Workers marched through Hong Kong to demand a maximum work week of 44 hours, in Jakarta for a higher minimum wage and in Taiwan for more time off. Marchers demanded maternity leave and protections against workplace sexual abuse in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
Socialist parties picked May 1, 1889, as labor day to commemorate a Chicago rally three years earlier that brought a police crackdown, a mysterious bomb, at least 11 deaths and the subsequent executions of the rally’s anarchist organizers.
On Wednesday in France, clusters of people wearing the black hoods and masks of modern-day anarchists pelted riot police with rocks and set trash cans on fire while darting in and out of a May Day march in Paris. France deployed 7,400 officers to protect the capital and other protesters from the violence.
Protesters and police officers also clashed in Turin, Italy; Istanbul and St. Petersburg, Russia.
And like the trade unionists of old who championed the rights of working classes off the job, activists in Europe, Africa and Asia this year promoted political platforms, opposed construction projects and looked ahead to the next elections.
Pope Francis offered a May Day prayer for people experiencing the “global tragedy” of unemployment.